It's New Year's Eve and time to start thinking about "New Year's Resolutions". Whether you prescribe to making a New Year's Resolution or not, the historically-proven reputation is that they are temporary and typically flimsy, at best! Most people make a resolution with good intentions at heart, but since the resolutions are usually of a superficial nature, they are short-lived and do no more than frustrate us and make us feel like a failure. This may have even led you to stop making resolutions all together, as it has for me.
This year, I made a point to research a little more about resolutions in general and I want to share what I found with you. New Year's Resolutions began in 153 BC with a mythical King named Janus (who January was named after). He had 2 faces, one on the back of his head and one on the front. Because he had two faces, he could see the past and the future at the same time. On January 1 of each year, it was said that he could look back at the previous year and also forward at the coming year. At its origination, for the Romans, a resolution was focused on forgiveness from your enemies and giving gifts.
Fast forward thousands of years and we have begun to resolve to do much more than forgive - to get in shape, to get our finances in order, or to be more charitable. These are all respectable things to strive for, but are initiatives that take much diligence, discipline, and most importantly, significant change in our mentality. This is not so easily achieved, which is probably why so many of us fail to succeed in our resolutions.
When looking at the definition for resolution, one definition states, "settlement: something settled or resolved; the outcome of decision making". Another calls resolution simply "a solution to a problem". Combine these two definitions, and you come up with a permanent solution to something that needs to be settled in your life.
So aside from finances, health, and charitable endeavors, what are some issues that have plagued our lives and really need to be settled, once and for all? That is the question we should ask ourselves this New Year's Eve. We may even take it back to Roman times and purpose to forgive someone that we have held a grudge with for a very long time.
Now, if these issues are long-standing, just purposing to settle those situations is not going to be enough and we may end up right where we started. I suggest that once we determine those crucial areas in our lives that desperately need a resolution, we get down on our knees and pray for guidance and strength to carry out the DECISION that we will make tonight regarding it. I say DECISION with emphasis because we cannot go back on what we have decided. It is a SOLUTION, not a temporary fix! Let's make a forever commitment to these resolutions this year!
Friday, December 31, 2010
Thursday, December 30, 2010
A Christmas Gift Wii Can All Enjoy
In a society that is so entranced with technology, you cannot deny the power of the internet and video games on our growing generation. We have tried our best to fight our son's inclination to be obsessed with video games, but everyday it becomes more and more of a challenge to do so. Even though we limit his gameplay to only a couple of hours on the weekends, video games are still all he talks about and all he ever asks for when it comes to gifts. He even wants to be a game developer when he gets out of college. That got me thinking, it can't be all bad - at least he's thinking about college and a career at 8 years old! So, how can I foster this without letting him become one of those kids who locks themselves in their room at night and plays violent games with ungodly themes until the wee hours of the morning?
I think we have found the answer! We decided that this Christmas may be the year that we get the kids a gaming system. But, if we buy the children a gaming system, it would need to be one that they share and that we would need to keep in the living room so that we can monitor their usage of it. We almost went with a PS3, with the thought that not only would they have the games they can play, but we can have a BluRay player too. It's a win-win, right?
But then it dawned on me, as I was looking through the PS3 games that I thought my son would like, that all of the games I was thinking of purchasing were mostly for them to play alone or with one other player. Also, most of the games were very specific to TV shows that they like or interests that only they have as individuals. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but they would likely end up playing alone and we would probably be fighting for the TV, since my husband and I wouldn't necessarily be inclined to play those games with them.
Then I remembered how much the kids enjoyed playing the Nintendo Wii when my old roommate had one a few years ago. They would beg to play the Wii, but since it was my roommate's, I didn't let them play very often, in fear that they may break it by accident. Now that we were in the market for our own system I thought, why not get a Wii? It seems to be geared more towards the family and has lots of games that we can all play together. The only drawback was that we wouldn't be getting a BluRay player, but hey - we don't even have an HDTV, so would it really yield us much benefit?
So that's the way we went - we bought my old roomate's Wii at a very reasonable price and she was generous enough to give us all of her old games! Then we bought a few new ones and all of a sudden, we had a Christmas wonderland of video games for the kids. They of course went nuts when they saw it and couldn't wait to play with it!
Turns out that this was the best thing for our family this Christmas season! The games that we bought were not only interesting to the kids, but we can all play them as a family and they even give us a bit of a workout. And let's be honest parents, we could all use a little workout in our busy lives! We have already spent hours huddled around the TV, battling each other in golf, boxing, Wipeout, dancing to Kidz Bop, and even Grandpa has joined in on the action. My husband and I have sacrificed our usual TV watching time to spend time with the kids playing, where we would typically just send them upstairs to their room.
The moral of this story, I suppose, is that video games are not necessarily evil, for those of you who believe they are. They can be a great way to spend time with your kids doing something that they love and will love you for in the end. My son has already expressed to me how glad he is that we got a Wii as opposed to another gaming system because he gets to play with us as a family. As my heart melts at his sentiment, I realize that kids really do want to spend time with us - we just have to be open to it! Make an opportunity for those moments to happen in your family whenever you can!
I think we have found the answer! We decided that this Christmas may be the year that we get the kids a gaming system. But, if we buy the children a gaming system, it would need to be one that they share and that we would need to keep in the living room so that we can monitor their usage of it. We almost went with a PS3, with the thought that not only would they have the games they can play, but we can have a BluRay player too. It's a win-win, right?
But then it dawned on me, as I was looking through the PS3 games that I thought my son would like, that all of the games I was thinking of purchasing were mostly for them to play alone or with one other player. Also, most of the games were very specific to TV shows that they like or interests that only they have as individuals. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but they would likely end up playing alone and we would probably be fighting for the TV, since my husband and I wouldn't necessarily be inclined to play those games with them.
Then I remembered how much the kids enjoyed playing the Nintendo Wii when my old roommate had one a few years ago. They would beg to play the Wii, but since it was my roommate's, I didn't let them play very often, in fear that they may break it by accident. Now that we were in the market for our own system I thought, why not get a Wii? It seems to be geared more towards the family and has lots of games that we can all play together. The only drawback was that we wouldn't be getting a BluRay player, but hey - we don't even have an HDTV, so would it really yield us much benefit?
So that's the way we went - we bought my old roomate's Wii at a very reasonable price and she was generous enough to give us all of her old games! Then we bought a few new ones and all of a sudden, we had a Christmas wonderland of video games for the kids. They of course went nuts when they saw it and couldn't wait to play with it!
Turns out that this was the best thing for our family this Christmas season! The games that we bought were not only interesting to the kids, but we can all play them as a family and they even give us a bit of a workout. And let's be honest parents, we could all use a little workout in our busy lives! We have already spent hours huddled around the TV, battling each other in golf, boxing, Wipeout, dancing to Kidz Bop, and even Grandpa has joined in on the action. My husband and I have sacrificed our usual TV watching time to spend time with the kids playing, where we would typically just send them upstairs to their room.
The moral of this story, I suppose, is that video games are not necessarily evil, for those of you who believe they are. They can be a great way to spend time with your kids doing something that they love and will love you for in the end. My son has already expressed to me how glad he is that we got a Wii as opposed to another gaming system because he gets to play with us as a family. As my heart melts at his sentiment, I realize that kids really do want to spend time with us - we just have to be open to it! Make an opportunity for those moments to happen in your family whenever you can!
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Living in LaLa Land
You know, before I moved to Los Angeles, I secretly imagined life here to live up to this hype of being the lap of luxury lifestyle. I thought I would be in my own little dream world all day long, hob-nobbing with celebrities on a daily basis and hanging out at the beach every weekend.
For the first week or so, that may have been true and for the first 3 months, I hung on to that perception until the reality of this city's cost of living really set in! I had to get a job and get one quick! Living on my sister's couch wasn't as luxurious as the dream world would have me to believe. And soon enough, I was thrust into the REAL world with REAL bills and SUPER REAL RENT!
Fast forward 10 years and now it's me and my hubby raising 3 children in LA. Has anyone ever priced-out decent daycare in this city?! And how about a 3 bedroom apartment in a safe neighborhood? By now, I have built a successful career and my husband has built his as well. And even with two very well-paying salary jobs, we are still dealing with the paycheck to paycheck lifestyle. Now, don't get me wrong! Our God is so awesome that we never come up short and we always have what we need - thank God for that! Without Him, I'm not sure where we would be!
But this just makes me wonder....if we are doing this well in our careers and still live paycheck to paycheck, are all of these people walking around acting like they have all kinds of money, owning houses and putting their kids in private school, struggling just like us? Maybe they are in debt like the rest of us. Maybe they are stressing in the middle of the night, trying to figure out how they are going to pay the mortgage. Or maybe they just know how to manage their money and we have no clue!
Well, I don't suppose this is the sort of thing I can just walk up and ask them about, so I guess I shouldn't speculate! I think the more productive thing to do would be to get a financial advisor to help us budget our money better and to spend more time in the Word hearing what God has to say about it! We know He is bigger than any little money problems anyway!
For the first week or so, that may have been true and for the first 3 months, I hung on to that perception until the reality of this city's cost of living really set in! I had to get a job and get one quick! Living on my sister's couch wasn't as luxurious as the dream world would have me to believe. And soon enough, I was thrust into the REAL world with REAL bills and SUPER REAL RENT!
Fast forward 10 years and now it's me and my hubby raising 3 children in LA. Has anyone ever priced-out decent daycare in this city?! And how about a 3 bedroom apartment in a safe neighborhood? By now, I have built a successful career and my husband has built his as well. And even with two very well-paying salary jobs, we are still dealing with the paycheck to paycheck lifestyle. Now, don't get me wrong! Our God is so awesome that we never come up short and we always have what we need - thank God for that! Without Him, I'm not sure where we would be!
But this just makes me wonder....if we are doing this well in our careers and still live paycheck to paycheck, are all of these people walking around acting like they have all kinds of money, owning houses and putting their kids in private school, struggling just like us? Maybe they are in debt like the rest of us. Maybe they are stressing in the middle of the night, trying to figure out how they are going to pay the mortgage. Or maybe they just know how to manage their money and we have no clue!
Well, I don't suppose this is the sort of thing I can just walk up and ask them about, so I guess I shouldn't speculate! I think the more productive thing to do would be to get a financial advisor to help us budget our money better and to spend more time in the Word hearing what God has to say about it! We know He is bigger than any little money problems anyway!
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Get to Know LaLa Momma
Well, I decided to start a blog as a way to express my everyday thoughts in the hopes that it will relieve some of the stresses of life, being a busy career woman, step mom, wife, and new mother in LA. So, as my first post, I thought I would tell everyone a little bit about myself so that they can see where I'm coming from, literally and figuratively.
I was brought up, for the most part, in the Midwest with my Mom and 3 siblings. I also have a half-sister and a stepmother who lived nearby with my Dad and I saw often growing up. Our family was pretty normal, as far as I'm concerned. We had a nice house in a great neighborhood where you can ride your bike up and down the street, sled down the driveway when it snows, and play "ghosts in the graveyard" with the neighborhood kids when it gets dark. We had enough money to where, if there was ever an issue, I was unaware of it. Life was pretty good. As a preteen, my Mother re-married and, as my stepfather was a Captain in the Air Force, we moved to Europe for 4 years which, at the time, seemed like the end of life as I knew it.
Of course, as you can imagine, it was more like the beginning of life as I knew it! We spent 4 years there, traveling throughout Europe and learning about other cultures and how life outside of "the states" really does exist. It was one of the best times of my life and my experiences there will forever be ingrained in my heart and in my mind. If you have never taken a trip outside of the country, and especially if you've never gone outside of your state, this is something that you absolutely should put at the top of your to-do list! It is an amazing experience for anyone, young or old, to travel outside of your "world" for just a moment.
I digress...
So after we moved back to the states, I finished High School and went off to college, without a clear idea of how to achieve my life-long dream of being a filmmaker. By the time I graduated, I had a plan! I would move to LA - big city of dreams - and use my Advertising degree to get into making commercials and eventually start making movies.
Well, ten years in LA later, I have yet to start my star-studded filmmaking career, but have gained so many blessings along the way! It took a bit of growing up and some crazy days in my 20s, but I now have a loving husband, 3 wonderful step-children, a brand new beautiful baby girl, a good job, and an awesome God who gave it all to me!
So here I am, writing this blog so that I can share all of these blessings with whoever wants to hear about them! So why LaLa Momma, you ask? Well, there can be many interpretations of this nickname I have given myself. Of course, LaLa can signify Los Angeles (la la land) which has shaped so many of my life experiences throughout the past 10 years. Or LaLa can be attributed to my new daughter, as I have so affectionately nick-named her. LaLa can even describe my love for music, as I have been close to music from birth, being a part of a very musical family.
Whatever I can draw from the meaning of my nickname, I am here to share my everyday dreams and insights and I hope that what I share will bless, inspire, or at the very least, entertain you.
I was brought up, for the most part, in the Midwest with my Mom and 3 siblings. I also have a half-sister and a stepmother who lived nearby with my Dad and I saw often growing up. Our family was pretty normal, as far as I'm concerned. We had a nice house in a great neighborhood where you can ride your bike up and down the street, sled down the driveway when it snows, and play "ghosts in the graveyard" with the neighborhood kids when it gets dark. We had enough money to where, if there was ever an issue, I was unaware of it. Life was pretty good. As a preteen, my Mother re-married and, as my stepfather was a Captain in the Air Force, we moved to Europe for 4 years which, at the time, seemed like the end of life as I knew it.
Of course, as you can imagine, it was more like the beginning of life as I knew it! We spent 4 years there, traveling throughout Europe and learning about other cultures and how life outside of "the states" really does exist. It was one of the best times of my life and my experiences there will forever be ingrained in my heart and in my mind. If you have never taken a trip outside of the country, and especially if you've never gone outside of your state, this is something that you absolutely should put at the top of your to-do list! It is an amazing experience for anyone, young or old, to travel outside of your "world" for just a moment.
I digress...
So after we moved back to the states, I finished High School and went off to college, without a clear idea of how to achieve my life-long dream of being a filmmaker. By the time I graduated, I had a plan! I would move to LA - big city of dreams - and use my Advertising degree to get into making commercials and eventually start making movies.
Well, ten years in LA later, I have yet to start my star-studded filmmaking career, but have gained so many blessings along the way! It took a bit of growing up and some crazy days in my 20s, but I now have a loving husband, 3 wonderful step-children, a brand new beautiful baby girl, a good job, and an awesome God who gave it all to me!
So here I am, writing this blog so that I can share all of these blessings with whoever wants to hear about them! So why LaLa Momma, you ask? Well, there can be many interpretations of this nickname I have given myself. Of course, LaLa can signify Los Angeles (la la land) which has shaped so many of my life experiences throughout the past 10 years. Or LaLa can be attributed to my new daughter, as I have so affectionately nick-named her. LaLa can even describe my love for music, as I have been close to music from birth, being a part of a very musical family.
Whatever I can draw from the meaning of my nickname, I am here to share my everyday dreams and insights and I hope that what I share will bless, inspire, or at the very least, entertain you.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)